ENTREPRENEUR MIND SET ARE YOU AN ENTREPRENEUR?

ARE YOU AN ENTREPRENEUR?

If you like me are a mentalist and make your living as a full time performer, then the answer to that question is yes. Of course I use mentalist as an example simply because that is my chosen profession, but you could be a magician, kid’s entertainer, escapologist, juggler or clown, you get the idea.

Wikipedia defines an entrepreneur as “an individual who organises and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so”.

However I don’t think this definition of an entrepreneur is completely accurate, because it could just as easily be associated with anybody who is self-employed. In my opinion a better definition would be:

“An entrepreneur is defined as an individual who is motivated by innovation to grow their own business and make a profit”.

If like me you are interested in successful people, you may also be interested to know, that a lot of psychological research has been done into the characteristics commonly displayed by an entrepreneur.

Now before I go any further you may have gathered by now, that I am fascinated by human psychology, so I want to say something that a lot of the self-development gurus out there may disagree with.

There is no blue print to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Many self-development books will tell you that if you mimic the habits of successful people you too will be successful. The problem with this theory is that each and every one of us is unique. I’m not talking about our physiology here; our bodies although different in appearance, work more or less in the same way for the whole of our species. No I’m talking about our personalities, our minds our very essence. The simple fact is that because we are all individuals, what works for one entrepreneur may not necessarily work for another.

That said, although there are variances in the psychological make-up of successful entrepreneurs, there do seem to be some clear and common characteristics that can be associated with many of them.

So what common characteristics identify an entrepreneur?

The Need for Achievement – Most successful entrepreneurs will work hard to succeed in business because, rightly or wrongly, they often equate business success to personal achievement. However they will often choose activities which hold a moderate chance of success, and will very rarely get involved in businesses which don’t show any obvious signs of growth.

Internal Control – This tends to relate to an individual’s perception of the causes of the events in their lives.  The entrepreneur tends to believe that their actions control the success of their environment, in this case their business, and that there is no luck or fate involved. The only problem with this mindset is that if things take longer or cost more than they expected, the entrepreneur can often feel a sense of failure.

Ambiguity – This is a strange but common characteristic in entrepreneurs. It refers to an individual’s ability to feel comfortable making decisions, without adequate research and with incomplete or ambiguous information. Many entrepreneurs find an ambiguous business situation desirable and often, when a business becomes successful, the entrepreneur may find the concept of ‘business ticking over nicely’ as boring.
​
Risk Taking – Most entrepreneurs have what is called a risk taking propensity. In other words, the entrepreneur actively seeks out risky business ventures and often has a tendency to take risks. However these risks are normally classed as calculated, even if the calculations are based on ambiguity, and many entrepreneurs don’t see themselves as risk takers.

How about you?

---